Apparatus for treating coating material on a core



Feb. 20, 1934. F. MARTINDELL APPARATUS FOR TREATING COATING MATERIAL ON A CORE Filed June 6, 1929 Wye/729w f/d/zi #4/77/7/4/ Patented F eb. 20, '1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR TREATING COATING MATERIAL ON A CORE i Application June 6, 1929. Serial No. 368,963

7 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for treating coating material on a core, and more particularly to apparatus for hardening a composition on a core in strand form. 5 An object of the invention is the provision of a I the front and rear thereof after being diffused by a porous member in the passage through which it passes so that the pressure at all of the apertures will be equal. The combustion chamber which is formed of a noncorrosive aluminum alloy, is offset to permit the escape of the gases of combustion without contaminating the coating on the strand, and is provided with heat insulating members to prevent the rapid dissipation of the heat generated by the combustion.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. l is a transverse vertical sectional view of apparatus embodying features of the invention, and

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference numerals designate the same parts throughout the several views, the numeral 1 designates a pair of channel irons positioned upon the floor and supporting a plurality of coating units designated generally by the numeral 2 of which only one has been shown and only one will be described, since all of the units are the same. A connecting plate 3 is secured to the upper flanges of the channels 1 and has mounted thereona base n is supplied with a suitable composition 17 through a flexible hose connection 'I connected to a pipe 8 which is in turn connected to a source of supply (not shown). The supply of composition 17 in the compound receptacle may be drawn off through a flexible hose connection 9 connected to an outlet pipe 10 so that the amount of compound in the receptacle 5 may be regulated and maintained at a substantially constant level, suitable valves 11 being provided for the inlet and outlet pipe connections. By a proper manipulationof the valves 11 a minimum amount of the composition will be exposed to the air and losses by evaporation and deterioration of the composition will be substantially reduced. V

J ournalled in a pair of upwardly extending arms 12 formed on the sides of the receptacle 5 is a sheave 13 to which a strand of wire 14 may be passed from a-pulley 15 mounted on a shaft 16 which is supported independently of the remainder of the mechanism and is driven in any well known manner by means (not shown). The wire 14 is drawn in the direction of the arrows from a source of supply (not shown) and wound about the pulley l5 and from there passes to the sheave 13 and back to the pulley 15 a number of times de-.- termined' by the desired thickness of coating material.

A heat insulating plate 21 having an aperture 22 therein is secured to an upwardly extending portion of the compound receptacle 5 and has mounted thereon a wiper 23 which has a. serrated edge for engaging and wiping the grooved surface of the sheave 13, and which in cooperation with the sides of the compound receptacle 5 forms a substantially air tight chamber through which'the' wire will pass on leaving the composition. The plate 21 also supports a pair of cast-' ings 24 and 25 made of a non-corrosive aluminum alloy and welded together and in such a manner that the inner surfaces thereof form a rectangular chamber through which the wire 14 may be drawn, the upper portion of the chamberbeing hereinafter referred to as the combustion chamber, while the lower portion is referred to as the heating'chamber. Flanges 26 and 27 are formed on the castings 2e and 25, respectively, forming channels on the outer surfaces of the castings, which channels when the castings have been joined together and mounted on the heat insulating plate 21, will'be positioned at the front and rear of the mechanism; Cross members 28, 29, 30 and 31 are formed in the, channel of the casting 24, and similar cross members 32, 33, 34 and 35 are formed in thechannel of the casting 25. The cross members 28 and 32 which are formed at the bottom of the channels are used as flanges front of the mechanism. In like manner the members 33, 34 and 35, the flanges 27 of the casting and a plate 40 form two compartments 41 and 42 at the rear of the mechanism.

Mounted in the channel of the castings 24 and 25 at a point between the cross members 28-and 29, 32 and 33, respectively, are a pair of electrical heating units 47 and 48, to which electrical ourrent may be supplied by conductors 49. and 50 connected to a source of supply (not shown). The heating units 47 and 48 are secured in place upon the castings by a pair of wedges 51 and 52 interposed between the outer surfaces of the heating units and rods" 53 and 54 secured to the flanges 26 and 27 of the castings and extending transversely thereof.

' Compartments 38 and 41 communicate with the combustion chamber through perforated front and rear walls as shown at 55 and 56. It will be noted that the combustion chamber is offset at 57, for, a purpose which will become apparent as the description progresses. In the side wall of the combustion chamber a spark plug 45 is mounted to which electrical current may be supplied by a conductor 46 for igniting the combustible materials in the composition.

Air under pressure is supplied from a source (not shown) to a pipe 58 for transmission through a passage 59 to passages 60 and 61 which communicate with the compartments 39 and 42. Slots 62 and 63 are formed in the members 30 and 34, respectively, to permit the air transmitted to the compartments 39 and 42 to pass therefrom into the compartments 38 and 41, wherein gauze diffusers 64 and 65, respectively, serve-to equalize the pressure of the air so that it will be directed evenly to the apertures 19 for admission therethrough to the combustion chamber. Thecastings 24 and 25 and the tube 36 connected thereto are encased in a heat insulating composition 66 which is secured in place by acasing6'7 surrounding the castings and the tube. It is to be noted that in the specific embodiment shown herein the insulating composition 66 is ofiset at a point adjacentthe lower end 01' the tube 36, this construction permits the use of tubes and castings of various shapes to accommodate various types of compositions and sizes of wire.

Positioned adjacent the upper end of the tube 36 is a duct 68 connected to a main exhaust duct 69 which is provided with suitable exhausting meansinot shown) for drawing off the gases generated by the combustion of the combustible substances in the coating composition.

It is believed that a better understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the follow.- ing description of the operation of the embodiment thereof described in the preceding paragraphs. The wire '14 is passed from a suitable supply spool: (not shown) over the pulley 15, down and around the pulley 13, through the heating and combustion chambers and the rectangular tube 36, around the pulley 15, again down and around the pulley 13 and through the heating and combustion chambers and the rectante gular tube 36 to the pulley 15. The wireisthread ed around the pulleys in this way several times, and the last pass of the wire is drawn from the pulley 15 to a take-up device of any suitable type (not shown) The compound receptacle 5 is filled to a predetermined level which may be accurately controlled by the valves 11 on the supply and outlet hoses, with an insulating composition consisting of a substantially non-combustible insulating material combined with a suitable volatile and combustible solvent or solvents. The term substantially nonecombustible as used herein and in the appended claims is employed in a relative sense to distinguish between the substances which are baked on the wire and those which are burned to generate heat for hardening the composition. In the embodiment described herein, the solvents have a flash point which is under 200 F. and the remainingingredients have a flash point between 700 and 900 F. and will burn only when heated to approximately 1400 F. By the term solven as used above and hereinaiter in the specification and annexed claims, is meant any substance which will combine with the insulating material to form a true solution, an emulsion, a suspension or a mixture of any of these states of matter. An insulating composition which may be employed with satisfactory results is disclosed in the United States Patent No. 1,101,281, issued June 23, 19 14, to H. B. Holmes et al., with the exception that the carbon tetrachloride contained therein may be omitted to increase the inflammability of the solvents. This composition with the carbon tetrachloride omitted comprises substantially 158 pounds of low grade pitchy ozocerite, 16.5 pounds of commercially, pure ozocerite, 11.5 gallons of castor oil, 36.5 gallons of mineral oil of a specific gravity of .860, 19.5 gallons of as-. phaltum, 1 pound glue, 40 gallons of turpentine, andv 42 gallons of kerosene, 1'18 Electrical energy is supplied from a suitable source (not shown) tothe spark plug 45 to ignite the, gases formed by the evaporizing of the volatile and more readily combustible substances of the composition, which vaporization is materially 1 D aided by the heat generated by the heating elements 4'? and 48 positioned on the castings ,24 and 25.

The mechanism for driving the take-up device and thepulley 15 is then started, whereupon the 25 wire 14 will be drawn through the insulating composition 1'7 and become coated therewith.

A strand of the coated wire passes vertically from the composition directly into the heating chamher which is heated by the heating elements 47 130 and 48 and in which some of the volatile and more readily combustible substances present in thecoating on the wire are vaporized. The wire nexttravels past the perforations formed inthe castings at 55 and 56 where a supplyof air suifi- 18b cient to burn substantially all of the solvents in the coating is admitted; The air thus admitted has been heated in passing through the pipe 58 arranged adjacent the combustion chamber and difiusedso that the pressure at all the perfora 14D tions will be equal and is here mixed with the vapors produced in the heating chamber. Inthe combustion. chamberthe mixture of vapors and air is ignited bythe spark plug 45 positioned thereinwhereupon the solvents upon that portion of the wire passing at that instant past the perforations in the castings 24 and 25 become ignited. Since the amount of air admitted through the pipe 58-may bereadily controlled, the com-j bustionin thechamber maybe regulated andmay be controlled so that the flame produced by the combustion of the solvents will produce sufiicient heat to give a satisfactory product.

The height of the flame in the combustion chamber necessary to produce suflicient heat to give a satisfactory product may be controlled by the amount of air admitted thereto and will vary materially, depending upon the brittleness desired in the coating, the thickness of the coating, the quality and ingredients of the composition, the diameter of the wire, and the number of coats of composition on the wire. In the lower portion or" the combustion chamber substantially all of the solvents in the coating upon the wire are burned and sufiicient heat is generated at this point to bake the insulating material firmly upon the wire.

The offset in the combustion chamber at 57 cooperating with the exhaust duct 68 serves to deflect the tip of the flame as shown at '70 and direct the gases generated in the combustion away from the wire. This operation permits the coating of a wire with any desired color of enamel without discoloring it since the carbon produced in combustion will be deflected with the flame and will not be deposited on the strand. Obviously, this feature though not essential in baking black enamel on a wire is absolutely necessary if it is desired to coat the strand with enamel of some other color.

The wire now coated with a hardened insulating substance passes upwardly through the upper portion of the combustion chamber and through the hot products of combustion therein which are generated in the lower portion of the chamber, whereby the remaining solvents in the coating are driven off and the insulating material is completely hardened upon the wire. The wire is then passed over the pulley 15 and again through the above outlined steps to add another coating of insulating material upon the wire. The wire may be repassed through the apparatus until the insulating coating thereon has assumed a thickness suflicient for the use in which the wire is to be employed.

Among the outstanding features of this invention are the provision of the heat insulating composition 66 and the heat insulating plate 21 to prevent the rapid dissipation of the heat generated in the combustion of the solvents of the coating and to expedite materially the hardening of the coating, the use of a non-corrosive aluminum alloy in the castings 24 and 25 which results in a superior product since it prevents contamination or the coating due to scale and oxides dropping into the compound, and the oii-setting of the combustion chamber to permit the gases of the combustion to escape without coming in close contact with the Wire, thereby preventing contamination of the coating applied to the Wire by the gases.

It is to be understood that the above illustrated embodiment is illustrative only and that various modifications of the apparatus may be made without departing from the scope of the invention which is to be limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. In an apparatus for hardening a coating on a core, means for applying a coating composition containing a non-volatile material combined with a volatile material to the core, means for hardening the ingredients of the composition on the core due to the burning of the volatile materials,

1' means for supplying air to the core comprising baking ingredients of the composition on the core due to the burning of the volatile materials, means for supplying air to the core comprising an air passage terminating in a plurality of openings adjacent the coated core, and a porous member positioned in the passage to equalize the flow of air through all of the openings.

3. In an apparatus for hardening a coating on a strand, means for applying a coating composition to the strand, means for igniting solvents of the composition to supply substantially all of the heat necessary to bake the remaining ingredients of the composition on the strand solely by the heat generated by the combustion of the solvents, a baflie member positioned adjacent the path of the coated strand and having a plurality of apertures therein, a passage for supplying combustion air to the baffle, and diffusing means positioned in the passage.

4. In an apparatus for hardening a coating on a core, means for applying a coating composition to the core, a baking chamber, means for baking ingredients of the composition on the core in the baking chamber, means for supplying air to the chamber comprising a pair of compartments at the front of the chamber, a pair of compartments at the rear of the chamber, means for supplying air to the upper compartments at the front and rear of the chamber, a passage for directing air from the upper to the lower compartments, and means fordirecting the air from the lower compartments into the combustion chamber.

5. In an apparatus for hardening a coating applied to a strand, a tubular combustion chamber having the vertical axis of its upper portion laterally offset with respect to the vertical axis of the lower portion, means for drawing a strand with a coating composition thereon substantially centrally through said lower portion and eccentrically through the upper portion, means for igniting the solvents thereof on the strand, and means cooperating with said offset for causing the flame of combustion to be deflected from the strand in the upper portion of the combustion chamber.

6. In an apparatus for hardening a coating on a core, means for applying a coating composition to the core, means for igniting solvents of the composition to supply substantially all of the heat to bake the remaining ingredients of the composition on the core by the combustion of the solvents, means for supplying combustion air to the coated core comprising an air passage adjacent the coated core, and a diffuser positioned in the passage.

7. In an apparatus for hardening a coating on a strand, means for applying a coating composition to the strand, means for igniting solvents of the composition to furnish by the combustion of the solvents substantially all of the heat to bake the remaining ingredients of the composition on the strand, means'for supplying combustion air to the coated strand comprising an air passage terminating in a plurality of openings adjacent the coated strand, and a porous member positioned in the passage to equalize the flow of air through all of the openings.

FRANK MARTINDELL. 

